Deion Sanders gives Orioles a 'Prime Time' appearance

Eduardo A. Encina, The Baltimore Sun

Deion Sanders throws during warmups before the Orioles' game Wednesday night. Sanders, who played for Buck Showalter in the New York Yankees organization, was visiting the team and also took batting practice. He's in town with the NFL Network for Thursday's Ravens game against the Browns.

Deion Sanders throws during warmups before the Orioles' game Wednesday night. Sanders, who played for Buck Showalter in the New York Yankees organization, was visiting the team and also took batting practice. He's in town with the NFL Network for Thursday's Ravens game against the Browns. (Eduardo A. Encina, The Baltimore Sun)

Eduardo A. EncinaThe Baltimore Sun

Former two-sport standout and current NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders, in town for Thursday night's Ravens home game against Cleveland, stopped by Oriole Park at Camden Yards to take batting practice with the Orioles.

Some players got a kick out of it -- left-hander Troy Patton asked Sanders for his autograph -- and Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who was Sanders' manager with the Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees in 1989, reminisced about Sanders' athletic ability, saying that watching Sanders leg out a triple is "still one of the prettiest things I've ever seen."

Upon seeing Showalter, who has a bum knee, hobble out of the dugout, Sanders asked, "Is that a pimp or a limp?" The batting practice music rotations even included Sanders' 1994 song, "Must Be the Money."

In between taking hacks, Sanders took some questions from reporters:

On getting back in the batting cage: "I think Buck will still sign me. You guys thought it was just BP, but it was just an audition, really. The last time I hit, Buck was in Arlington with the Rangers, and I went out to visit him. He said then: 'Can I get you out there to pinch run or pinch hit late in the game? I said: 'As long as they throw it straight.'"

On being in Baltimore:"The city is unbelievable. I'm a crab conossieur. I love crab. This is the only thing I remember when the Yankees played the Orioles. I don't even remember the pitcher or the teammates, but I remember we had a lot of blue crabs after the game, and they were delicious."

His advice to the Orioles:"Stay focused, man. Stay focused. They've got what it takes. They've got the pitching, the hitting, the fielding. They're very intelligent. They've got a coach who's great. They've got what it takes. They've just got to stay focused,and play every game as if it's a playoff game."

On Showalter:"Buck's a good man. You've got to understand a wide-eyed kid with a lot of dreams and aspirations coming out of Florida State, and I go to Albany and I meet Buck Showalter. He's been the same for two decades; integrity, work ethic, all that he stands for."